The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1887-11-12
MARKETING BUTTER.
Msthods of Packing and Preserving in Use
Hero and in Europe.


market for dry goods. has been injured
by poor packing. Thousands OF pack
ages have been ruined because OF false
economy, and exporters, instead OF re-
ceiving handsome returns. have really
had 10 pay expenses OF transportation,
ETC.. besides losing the total value OF
their goods.
However, our dairymen arc gradn-
ally learning the art Of preserving and
hacking, and few hints here may
help 10 improve matters still more.
When butter Is sold in retail guam
titles 30 consumers direct, and the idea
Of attracting good customers and high
prices is uppermOst, strict attention
must be paid TO IA healthy. uniform APP
pearapce. But any artificial ingredi-
ents 10 secure color will soon be de-
tected-henco should be avoided. Gus
toners who are willing 10 pay well for
n good article always know what they
want and will soon detect fraud.
For this retail trade the butter is
usually made into pound or half pound
rolls, covered with clean muslin cloth,
and the rolls should not be touched
with the hands in handling When
roll butter for immediate consumption
is TO be shipped short distances and
gets into the hands Of the midd!emen,
n good practice is TO make neat
wooden box holding say twelve rolls,
each roll being wrapped in piece OF
muslin cloth This method has at
tanned great popularity in England and
France.
Another method OF preparing butter
for immediate consumption is to pack
in porcelain vessels, in which case it is
usually peddled around the town or
city, some times by the producer and
some times by mddlcman, and sold
in any quantity desired. For such
purposes tin vessels are Objectionable,
rs they rust easy and injurc the flavor
Of the butter
However, in this country, whore
mostly all the butter il made i'm sum-
mer, we are more directly concerned
in preserved butter. packed in such
manner that it will stand long journeys
or voyages and keep sweet for several
months.
Under this system frkins are used,
and as this country is destined to be-
come one of the greatest dairy coun-
tries in the world, IL will be well TO
mention the varieties Of timber which
farmers should now commence to grow
in order to supply the demand for
iirkins. II is not likely that any mate
rial will surpass wood for Cheapncss,
convenience and durability. In liol-
land. France and ireland oak iirkins
are used, while in Schlcswig-llolstein
beech. when fcllcd in winter. is re-
gardcd ~ the best method of making
them Basswood and poplar enter
largely into some methods of packing.
especially for making boxes for roll
butter. On this continent white ash,
spruce and white oak are fayoritc TIM
bcrs out Of which firkins are made.
However, the kind of wood has less
To do with the iirkin than the method
of preparing it. The chief objection to
certain kinds of wood is the "woody
favor," which can be removed. al
though by different methods. according
to the nature of the flavor. For exam
pie, less effort is required To prepare
beech than oak.
In Holland the oak firkins are pre-
pared by sleeping them two hours in
lyo and. after pouring off the lyc, letting
thn,,, ptanl -, thn al, f,,. 4 g., 4
after which they are filled with n solu-
ton Of alum for twcnty-four hours and
left TO dry for another day.
just before packing the butter into
them they are thoroughly cleaned with
cold water In preparing the beech
iirkins the) are simply washed out
with solution of soda, then washed
with water and dried. Sometimes they
are also filled with a brine, which is
allowed to remain in them several
days.
In the United States the woody
flavor is removed by soaking the tirkins
III hot brine, one quart of salt being
placed in each tub. and boiling water
added. When the brine gets cold the
Same operation is repeated, except that
cold water is added instead of hot, and
the second brine is allowed to remain
in the tub until il is ready for packing.
Ii is preferable, if possible, that tho
iirkins used by each packer should have
uniform weight; otherwise the honest
weight of the wood should be marked
on each tub, which facilitates the as
ccrtaining of the just weight of butter.
There are many convonicnccs in hav-
ing uNform tarc for the butter tubs.
but this does not mean that every tub
should contain the same quantity Of
butter. These tubs may vary from
thirty to a hundred pounds in butter
capacity; what is meant is that each
tub which contains the same quantity
of butter should have the same
weight
After the butter is packed in the tub
ii IL customary To place "salt plas-
ter under the lid; but Prof Robert
son. who made observations at the
Colonial Exhibition, informs our dairy
men that this layer of salt breaks
before the butter reaches the English
markets. On the continent of Europe,
where the best systems of packing are
adopted, parailine or parchment paper
is highly recommended. Tin lined
tphs altb,nyh faN,p,l a, e,,,,.,